Camper Van Muni?
Which do you think would break down more or take longer to get you where you need to go: a Muni bus, or a camper van disguised as a Muni vehicle?
Via Muni rider Ken.
Impromptu Concert at the Muni Stop
Photo by faern
Muni rider faern sent in this perfect little slice of San Francisco city life at the Church and Duboce Muni stop. She says:
A trombone. A guitar. Two skateboarders. A hippie on a bike doing circles. People in suits waiting for the train and a whole lotta annoyed bicyclists #life at #thebusstop #muni
Got your own very SF moment today? Send it over on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook – just tag @munidiaries.
T-Train Derailed in Muni v. Semi Collision
Photo via Jett S
In what is unfortunately not just an action-movie scene, a Muni light rail vehicle collided with a semi in the Bayview this afternoon, derailing the LRV by “several feet.” Rider Jett S. sent us the photo above.
According to the SFPD, the semi made an illegal u-turn; Jett notes that this intersection has a no-left-turn sign, visible in the pic. Some 20 people were injured in the collision and 11 were sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to SFPD spokesperson Albie Esparza.
From the SFPD:
Preliminary investigation revealed a Muni LRV traveling north bound 3rd street towards downtown SF (inbound). A semi truck also traveling north bound 3rd in the lane of traffic made an illegal left hand turn onto Innes from 3rd street in front of the LRV. The Muni LRV and the truck made impact and the train was derailed off the tracks by several feet.
The area is closed from Jerrold to Hudson along 3rd street at least for the next hour.
People are advised to take alternate routes and modes of transport as this will impact the evening Friday commute.
The driver was not yet cited at this time until the conclusion of the investigation.
KCBS has more photos and videos here. We hope everyone will be just fine.
Update
Aaaand it looks like a not-so-good day for Muni collisions today. Another collision earlier today on Geary and Webster between a Muni bus and a dumpster truck sent another 20 people to the hospital around 1:30 p.m. The SFPD says none of the injuries appear to be life threatening.
Muni and its assorted cast of characters
Photo by ajoh213
A couple of them even have lead roles as Muni drivers!
- “Holy moly guacamole, look at this crowd! How am I gonna fit them? Meow!” – my N-Judah driver at Carl & Cole #munidiaries
- Optimus prime just gave me and @megan77 a ride home disguised as the 1 California #bestmunidriverever
- guy on the 38 playing Kanye on his phone and rapping/singing along clearly did not get enough attention as a child. #SFMuni
- Just watched two strangers clink their bottles of liquor together. I think I just had my 38-Geary moment.
- To the woman eating the full Thanksgiving meal on the #sfmuni: STOP.
This week’s Things on Muni is brought to you by @goldfine, @katstounding, @ImekaSF, @claysmalley, @Chinaeg. Sing it loudly to @munidiaries.
Transit News: Muni funding, Muni contract, BART vandalism, Muni “double berthing”
Photo by Patrick
- Mayor ratchets up pressure over Muni funding (SFGate)
- Muni mechanic makes the wheels on the bus go round (SFGate)
- SFMTA Approves 3-Year Contract For Muni Drivers (CBS Bay Area)
- BART Plans Weekend Closure Of Daly City Platforms (SF Appeal)
- BART Investigating Racist Vandalism Directed At Employees (SF Appeal)
- Muni Train Hits Van On The Embarcadero (SF Appeal)
- Harmony out the window in Muni funding dispute (SFGate)
- Muni Plans to Launch “Double Berthing” in October, a Year Behind Schedule (Streetsblog SF)
- Mayor-Funded BeyondChron Attacks Wiener’s Transit Funding Measure (Streetsblog SF)
- Pilot charging commuter buses to use Muni stops hits the streets (SF Examiner)
How Does SF Stack Up in FiveThirtyEight’s Transit Study?
Map by Reuben Fischer-Baum via FiveThirtyEight
The data wizards at FiveThirtyEight.com combed through lots of transit data across cities in the United States to see how cities stack up in transit use. At first glance, San Francisco was No. 2 (uh…appropriately?) in transit trips per resident, ranking our public transit system the second most used in the United States, right behind New York City.
FiveThirtyEight’s Reuben Fischer-Baum asks, “Do certain regions tend to support better public transit, or is this just a product of city size and density?” When he separated the maps of large cities against smaller cities, the answer might surprise you. Go to FiveThirtyEight’s story to see which small city actually ranked first in transit quality.
Related: Earlier this year, Walk Score rated SF’s public transit poop number two as well. A trend emerges!